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Scratches on the Rear Fender

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by mycnam, Jun 16, 2013.

  1. mycnam

    mycnam Member

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    I bought the car yesterday as certified used, but today I noticed some tiny scratches on the rear fender. It looks like it was scratched before, and the bumper is repainted, but not the fender. I can hardly see the scratches nor do I care too much about it, but I am going to take the car to GEICO for photo inspection, and I worry if they will deny coverage if someone hits this part of the car.

    The first photo is just down to a bit of white primer, the second photo shows a deeper scratch at the corner but I am not sure if it is deep to primer or metal. This may be just a small touch-up job without taking it off. Anyway I will take the car to a shop for an estimation before I go for GEICO's inspection. Any thought?

    IMG_20130616_181130.jpg IMG_20130616_181139.jpg
     
    #1 mycnam, Jun 16, 2013
  2. eliteconcept

    eliteconcept 700 mile club, top tank mpg 69.5

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    Why tell your insurance about any existing damage? I have never heard of insurance inspection on a car. And I havr bought more than my share of used cars the past 4 years
     
    #2 eliteconcept, Jun 16, 2013
  3. mycnam

    mycnam Member

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    My old Eclipse has no collision coverage, GEICO did not require an inspection. For the new Prius it's full coverage, and GEICO require me to have photo inspection in 5 days. May be it's different from state to state. The scratches are hardly seen from eye level, I hope them do not find out or I can fix it before the "photo inspection".

    What's the color of primer? The underlying layer in the circle is deep in color but I'm not sure it's metal or not.
     
    #3 mycnam, Jun 16, 2013
  4. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Senior Member

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    I would try rubbing the larger scratches out with rubbing compound or even some very fine sand paper, then get some touch up paint of the proper color from the dealer and redo them. The smaller scratches will probably come out with ScratchX or one of the other scratch removal products.

    Don't even mention it to the insurance company, they probably don't care about a few scratches anyway they are looking for dents and rust.
     
    #4 tumbleweed, Jun 17, 2013
    mycnam likes this.
  5. mycnam

    mycnam Member

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    Of course I would not mention to the insurance company! The thing is I may not be able to get the touch-up paint within 3 days.

    The scratches looks bigger in photo. They are actually 2 to 3 mm in width.

    Nexus 4
     
    #5 mycnam, Jun 17, 2013
  6. tach18k

    tach18k Member

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    If your concerned about the finish check out autogeek.com and get some proper paint finishing info.
     
    #6 tach18k, Jun 17, 2013
  7. mycnam

    mycnam Member

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    I called the local dealer which sells a bottle of 1/2 oz touch up paint for about $10. The parts guy insisted it does not require a clearcoat. Should I get a bottle of clearcoat anyway?
     
    #7 mycnam, Jun 17, 2013
  8. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Senior Member

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    I wouldn't bother with the clear coat, just remember to shake really well to mix the color.
     
    #8 tumbleweed, Jun 17, 2013
  9. ny_rob

    ny_rob Senior Member

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    It's common- when I switched my 3 month old Prius Five from Allstate to 21st Century Insurance- they required a photo inspection. I've had to have my 2003 CRV photo inspected a few times too over the years when changing insurance co's.
    They're just trying to weed out pre-existing damage from future claims. Can't really blame them nowadays...
     
    #9 ny_rob, Jun 18, 2013
  10. MPGnutcase

    MPGnutcase Active Member

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    If you just bought the car take it to the dealer where u got it from they worked magic on a scratch I had :cool:
     
    #10 MPGnutcase, Jun 23, 2013
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